Grand Rapids, Mich. - The Grand Rapids Griffins were warned, with the cautionary words leaping out of the mouths of the Syracuse Crunch themselves.

Don't let us win a single game in these Calder Cup Finals, many of the Crunch players said Friday. Don't give us momentum.

The Griffins didn't listen. But was it a blip or a turning point?

The answer will come Saturday night.

Richard Panik and Ondrej Palat buried second-period goals and goalie Cedrick Desjardins was outstanding with 26 saves to lock the door from there as the Crunch extended its season with a clutch 3-2 win in front of a sold-out crowd in Van Andel Arena in Game 4 of the Calder Cup Finals.

Game 5 is 7 p.m. Saturday, and if the Crunch comes through again the series will return to Syracuse for Game 6 on Tuesday.

The outcome counted for just a single win in the overall scoreboard, but it infused the already confident Crunch with more swagger.

"We said, 'Don't let us win one,'" said Crunch coach Rob Zettler. "They should have closed it out tonight. They should close it tomorrow night, too. Don't let us win two. It's a long trip back to Syracuse."

Crunch defenseman Matt Taormina also wasn't backing down, speaking as though the Griffins were trailing the series one game to three.

"We've gone on streaks. We're starting one right now,'' he said. "The final one is the hardest to close. We're going to lay it on the line for everything.''

The Crunch played by far its most complete game of the series but had to wait until the end of the game to exhale. The team killed off a potentially game-changing run of penalties, and then had to withstand a Grand Rapids goal review with 17.4 ticks left.

That came after a wild scramble in front of the Crunch net in which the puck was batted around the crease. The goal light went on, the horn sounded and the Griffins celebrated wildly, but neither referee Jean Hebert nor Graham Skilliter signaled for a goal.

The two reviewed video, and confirmed it didn't go in.

"Palat came to me and said right away it wasn't in. I felt good inside 10 seconds after the play,'' Zettler said.

"There was a lot of guys. I saw the puck in the blue paint. I knew there was no goal,'' Palat said.

Desjardins, much like the referees, never bought into the act of the exuberant Griffins.

"They just tried to get the referee to allow a goal that never went in,'' he said. "We deserved the game. We worked hard in this game.''

Panik racked up the game-winner at the 16:52 mark of the second when he tipped a pass from teammate Mark Barberio past Griffins goalie Petr Mrazek to snap a 2-2 tie.

"I think the players forgot about me,'' Panik said of Grand Rapids. "They were focusing on (Tyler Johnson) in front of the net. I was lost. I don't think they were focusing on me.''

A rocket from Palat tied the game at 2-2 at the 11:04 mark. Palat said his preference is always to pass first and he's been reminding himself to shoot more, but this time he had no choice.

He was all alone streaking down the left side and smoked a bid past Mrazek for his first goal of the Finals.

"That's what I need to do. I need to shoot more,'' Palat said.

The Crunch PK was the grittiest unit of the night with a 5-for-5 effort. In the first period, it wasted 59 seconds of a 5-on-3 Griffins manpower edge. In the middle of the second, it trashed back-to-back power plays.

"Our penalty kill guys are sacrificing,'' Desjardins said. "We're blocking shots. We can't let them carry the puck. We have to be tight on them.''

The unit was tested again with 4:33 left in the game when Mark Barberio was called for hooking. But the PK group bit down even harder, creating a couple of great short-handed chances instead of sitting back.

"Our penalty kill never thought we would let it slip away,'' said Syracuse captain Mike Angelidis. "We were fully confident in our job.''

And the Crunch didn't backstep even a stride in carrying that confidence into the locker room, even though only three teams in AHL history have rallied from an 0-3 hole to win a playoff series.

"I don't see why we wouldn't take an aggressive attitude right now,'' Zettler said. "We've got a bunch of guys in that locker room who will fight right to the end. It's not over. It's a long ways from that point.''

Grand Rapids' Jan Mursak gave his team a narrow margin heading into the first break with a tally at the 11:04 mark of the opening period. Teammate Jeff Hoggan took what looked like a harmless bid from the left wing, and it deflected off a Crunch player.

The loose puck continued forward and went to Mursak, who was also lurking down the left side. He walked in alone to pop a shot past Desjardins for a 2-1 Griffins edge.

Brett Connolly knotted the game for Syracuse at the 5:04 mark. A Grand Rapids defender was caught leaning the wrong way on the left point, and Connolly tracked the puck behind him for a breakaway down the right wing. Connolly finished the rush with a low shot past Mrazek.

That was a quick response to a score by Joakim Andersson at the 3:37 mark. A bad Crunch line change left Andersson alone on the right wing, and he had plenty of time to drift toward the slot and snap a hard shot past Desjardins' stick side.